In short, he's as shocked as anyone. "The due diligence process was meticulous and thorough," says Apotheker in a statement to the WSJ, "and included two of the world’s largest and most respected auditing firms working on behalf of HP."

Apotheker was forced out of HP last September, shortly after it closed its acquisition of Autonomy. Perhaps because he's not at the company, and thus won't be able to easily defend himself, Apotheker has this statement which attempts to deflect all blame:

I’m both stunned and disappointed to learn of Autonomy’s alleged accounting improprieties. The developments are a shock to the many who believed in the company, myself included. But I also share the sentiment of HP’s current leadership and continue to believe in Autonomy’s market potential, as its core software expertise remains sound.

Looking back on the acquisition, which closed in Sept. 2011, the due diligence process was meticulous and thorough, and included two of the world’s largest and most respected auditing firms working on behalf of HP. Since Autonomy was a public company in the UK, much of the process relied on public financial reports — accounting statements approved, filed and backed by Autonomy’s leadership, board and auditors.

According to HP, the accounting issues it discovered pre-date its acquisition of Autonomy. As such, it’s apparent that Autonomy’s alleged accounting misrepresentations misled a number of people over time – not just HP’s leadership team, auditors and directors. In fact, the alleged improprieties apparently came to light only after an internal whistleblower raised the issue in the spring, well after my departure.

I will make myself available, however I can, to assist HP and the appropriate authorities get to the bottom of this.